Total newbie here lol.. We have been keeping them in totes in the garage with the heat lamp and from what Ive read from your posts I have completely done it wrong but we still have all 10! I have no idea what kind they are.. They are pretty resilient little critters, I am sure you are doing fine! Totally normal for them to start losing fluff at this age. They are going to start growing in their big duck feathers. The in between stage can make them look a little gangly lol.
I am so excited I found this post! I had a duck when I was very young. My parents did all of the work of course so I know very little about their care. I have been researching all day because my sweet husband told me we were going to get me a duck as soon as we moved to a place with a pond.
That happened Friday the 28th!! He took me today and allowed me to purchase two adorable baby ducks. Thank you so much for sharing your cleaning routine!! We are going to go play in the tub right now!!! Thanks for sharing your insight. This was a helpful article. We have a pair of 1 wk old mallards. Just yesterday morning, one of the ducklings started limping.
After my initial research, I thought niacin? Do ducklings recover from these types of setbacks? They are pretty resilient animals. If it is a niacin deficiency the sooner you can act the better. Hi Liz, I am a first time duckling owner. I have 3 pekin and 1 khaki Campbell. I take them for a swim in the kiddie pool each day. I wanted them to eventually play in the yard. Once outside in their coop, if I let them out to play, will they eventually warm up to me and should I worry about them running away from our yard?
I wanted them for pets and they are so afraid of me Instead, try interacting with the on the ground. Sit on the ground with them and have some treats they love. Encourage them to eat from your hands, and to climb on your legs. Is there a way they can get in the pool themselves? Maybe a ramp that you only put up when you are there? Then they associate you with the fun of swimming instead of the scariness of being picked up. They will warm up to you — you just have to interact with them at their level!
Hey Liz!! I absolutely love your post as it covers pretty much everything you need to know about raising ducklings!! The only thing that bothers me is the smell! I have a couple of Aylesbury ducks over 11 year old now and between two of them they still lay over 10 eggs a week!
That really depends on your temperatures and the time of year. I live in New England so keeping them outside would be way too cold for much of the year. I have 7 Pekin Ducklings — they are 5 weeks old and so big and messy!!
I have had them in our garage last week or so. Live in Ohio so nights get a bit chilly — I am ready to put them in their coop finally complete!
It is completely enclosed coop…with lots of straw! They really are super messy, especially with that many!! But by 5 weeks they should be mostly feathered at this point and with lots of straw you could probably push it to 45 at night.
Hopefully it will warm up soon!! I found an abandoned duckling. It was half dead. It was so small I could put it in my hand and cup the other hand over and it fit nicely. Thanks to you it has made it now for three weeks! Your instructions were brilliant! I have some questions. How long do I continue with the niacin? Should I buy it a friend? Will they get along? How do you tell the sex? Thank you so much. You saved this ducks life!!
Awwww that is wonderful news!!! Ducks are very social animals and really should have a friend unless you can devote pretty much all your time to hanging out with them and they are going to live inside your house. They should get along just fine, especially if you introduce a new friend soon when they are still babies. The males will also develop a curly feather at the base of their tail — known as a drake curl.
I knew absolutely nothing about ducks prior and have read probably every article I could find online!! I fed it cut up spinach, hard boiled eggs, broccoli, carrots, and peas for the first 3 days until I was able to get starter chick feed. Do you recommend I buy a new bag that is higher in protein or do you think it will be okay?? Also, I know they get lonely by themselves and I want to get another one but they would be weeks apart in age.
Would I need to separate them because of the differing diets? Or do you think they would be okay since they would be so close in age? Omg so many questions lol I hope you can help me!! Awww sweet! If you give mealworms or continue with the veggies you will want to provide some grit sand will work, or you can buy chick grit.
The brewers yeast is really important, so definitely start that as soon as it comes. While waiting you can offer some natural niacin sources likes peas and mealworms. Before you jump in and get a second duckling you need to think about the future of this duck and any other duckling you buy.
Mallard ducks are wild ducks, and unlike domestic ducks they can still fly most duck breeds you would be able to buy are domestic breeds that have been bred over generations to be too big boned to fly. Wild ducks also will still have their wild instincts to migrate in the winter. Is it your intention to rehab this duckling until it is old enough to fend for itself and then release it? Keep in mind in many states it is illegal to keep wild ducks, including Mallards, unless you have a permit to care for wild animals.
Once this duck is released or decides on its own it is time to fly south for the winter, the other duckling you bought will be left behind on his own. If you want to get into keeping ducks long term, you could get two ducklings to keep this guy company.
Then the domestic ducks will still have each once the Mallard is released. They will also have some good information on raising them for eventual release. Thank you for answering! I actually found a wildlife rehab center and they were able to take it today! Now it can grow up and be released into the wild and have the life it is supposed to :. I have never tried using a snuggle safe heating pad with them. I think my biggest concern would be that they will definitely poop all over it, so you will need to be constantly washing it.
You will want to have several covers for it. My second concern would just be that the heat would be inconsistent. I would give it a try, but If you had a backup heat source that would be a good idea.
If they are peeping a lot and huddled together they are too cold. We gave our ducklings a teddy bear that they cuddle with. I can move them around to dry spots during the day and they have straw and wood shavings.
So far so good. They love their daytime play and I can keep an eye on them too since i work mostly from home. I keep a piece of wood across the top to prevent hawks from getting curious. Our home is situated on a 3-acre, spring-fed, manmade lake. A small farm is located across the lake from us, and every spring the farmer buys about ten ducks and releases them into the water.
This year he bought Pekins and we became very attached to them, feeding them cracked corn and black oil sunflower. Predators have culled them down to one. The males have white-ringed necks, metallic green heads and dark chestnut breast feathers. They also have curled white and black feathers on their tails. Females and non-breeding males resemble each other. Their feathers are brown with darker brown and white stripes.
Some males and females have blue swatches of color on either side of their bodies, near their tail feathers. As mallard ducks age, their feathers become worn. Molting, or shedding of feathers, is how ducks replace their old feathers with new ones. Molting occurs twice per year, once in the fall and again in the spring. Around the time that females are laying eggs in the spring, males begin to shed their bright green feathers. They are flightless during this time.
For the first 25 days, the incubator should be set to After 25 days, you can transfer the eggs to hatching trays, or if you have one, you can move them to a hatcher. While the eggs are incubating, there are several different processes taking place within the shell that are helping to develop the embryo into a duckling. The next step is the heart, blood cells, and arterial veins. The final step of the process is the development of the feathers, beak, and feet.
The process of hatching takes place over a relatively long period of time. Keep in mind that not all eggs will hatch at once. If you try to assist with hatching too early, you could cause the duckling to bleed, potentially fatally. You should wait until about 48 hours after the external pip, when the duckling makes an initial crack in its shell, to assist in hatching if needed. Newborn ducklings do not yet have their feathers; instead, they have a fuzzy down covering.
They will get their feathers eventually, but until they do, they cannot swim or fly on their own. You should move them to a well-insulated enclosure where they can stay warm. Avoid using newspaper as it does not insulate very well and ducklings can easily slip on it. Your ducklings will need the heating lamp for the first few weeks of their lives, but you can gradually reduce the heat as they get older. Reason being that while the ducks are going through this week process they lose the ability to fly… you know, given the fact that they have just lost their flight feathers.
So by dulling themselves down it blends them in with the juvenile birds, and makes them less noticeable to lurking predators.
Though, occasionally some male ducks are lucky enough to regain their colourful breeding plumage before their flight feathers are fully renewed giving them a colourful edge with the females. Turns out having the pick of the flock may be a higher priority than protection from predators for some drakes.
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